Chapter 16

Elyra POV

Walking away from Alpha Deric, I walked straight to my chambers, I locked my room with a heavy thud, my heart hammering. I slid down to the floor, the weight of everything pressing heavily on me.

The fire in the hearth crackled, but it didn’t warm me. Elvira…I told myself not to think of her, but it was impossible. Her presence lingered like smoke, impossible to brush away. Every time I passed her room, my feet paused. Every time I saw the wildflowers outside the garden gate, her favorite spot, I remembered how she used to hum while plucking petals.

And I remembered that same night.

The lie we all told, that she had fled in shame, that she betrayed us, worried me, in fact the truth had been eating me up for weeks now. Because I had seen her. I had seen her the night before the bond ceremony, barefoot and